Progress Completed
Blue Crab Management

Manage for a stable and productive blue crab fishery. Work with the industry, recreational crabbers and other stakeholders to improve commercial and recreational harvest accountability. By 2018, evaluate the establishment of a Chesapeake Bay-wide, allocation-based framework with annual harvest levels set by jurisdictions for the purpose of accounting for and adjusting harvest by each jurisdiction.

Progress

In November of 2017, Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) informed the Chesapeake Bay Program of their decision to maintain the existing blue crab management framework rather than establish a new, allocation-based framework for the Chesapeake Bay's commercial and recreational blue crab fisheries. This decision was based on constituent feedback and management agency perspectives, and marks the completion of this outcome. Maryland, Virginia and the PRFC will continue to operate under a management framework that uses female-specific reference points to indicate the sustainability of the blue crab stock. Where female blue crab harvest levels and adult female blue crab abundance fall in relation to these reference points-which were recommended in 2011 and implemented in 2012-will inform blue crab management decisions.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC), an estimated 21 percent of the female blue crab population was harvested in 2017. For the tenth consecutive year, this number is below the 25.5 percent target and the 34 percent overfishing threshold. The Chesapeake Bay's blue crab stock is not depleted and it is not being overfished.

Interactive Chart

Female Blue Crab Harvest (1990-2017)

The percentage of female blue crabs harvested in 2017 marks a 30 percent increase from the previous year. The total Bay-wide commercial harvest of both male and female blue crabs marks a 10 percent decrease from the previous year, from about 60 million pounds to about 54 million pounds.

In its 2018 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory Report, CBSAC&mdashwhich includes federal fisheries experts, as well as scientists and representatives from state agencies and academic institutions&mdashrecommended maintaining a cautious, risk-averse approach to blue crab management. Over the long term, this subcommittee of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team (GIT) recommends Maryland, Virginia and the PRFC put procedures in place to provide accurate accountability for all commercial and recreational harvests, as this is an important component of assessing the blue crab stock.

Maryland, Virginia and the PRFC have regulations in place that can be used to respond to changes in the blue crab stock. In 2014, the three blue crab management jurisdictions responded to a depleted blue crab stock by putting additional harvest restrictions in place, largely through lower bushel limits. Maryland increased these bushel limits in 2015 and 2016, and all three jurisdictions extended the crab pot season in 2016. In 2017, Maryland and Virginia announced lower bushel limits and a shorter commercial crabbing season in response to a drop in the abundance of juvenile crabs.

Blue crabs support commercial and recreational fisheries across the region. Poor water quality, habitat loss, harvest pressure and predation affect their continued health.

Work Plan

In 2016, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Potomac River Fisheries Commission sought constituent feedback on the potential establishment and allocation of a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Chesapeake Bay's commercial and recreational blue crab fisheries. The Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team (GIT) received feedback from the Maryland Tidal Fisheries Advisory Commission, Virginia Crab Management Advisory Committee and Potomac River Fisheries Commission, and summarized the concerns of both management agencies and stakeholder organizations for the Chesapeake Bay Program's Management Board.